Category: Gambling and Casinos

Last week the Yankees had one of the most impressive comebacks this franchise has seen; they were down nine runs in the second inning and ended winning 14-13 thanks to a two run homer from Jorge Posada, Jeter Also contributed to the victory.

Jeter went 4-for-5 with a homer, four RBI and three runs. He also threw out a runner at the plate and stole third base.

“To be honest, I always thought we had a chance,” Jeter said. “You try to get one back at a time. You can’t get them all at once, and that’s what we did.”

The Yankees overcame a nine-run deficit for the fourth time in their storied history. The last time was a 12-11 win in 10 innings against the rival Red Sox on June 26, 1987. Boston’s starting pitcher in that one was Roger Clemens.

It was a positive win for the Yankees that needed to keep the winning record, since they are in one of the toughest divisions in the league. They can’t allow important victories to slip away mostly against teams not as good as this one, in this division every victory is very important.

Lineup
1. Johnny Damon, CF. 2.Derek Jeter, SS. 3.Jason Giambi, DH. 4. Alex Rodriguez, 3rd B. 5. Jorge Posada, C. 6.Robinson Cano, 2nd B. 7. Bernie Williams, RF. 8.Andy Phillips, 1st B. 9. Bubba Crosby, LF.

Kurt Schilling got his sixth victory of the year in last week’s game against the Orioles on Tuesday night; Schilling earned his sixth win despite giving up three home runs, and the Red Sox got homers from Manny Ramirez and Trot Nixon in a 6-5 victory Tuesday night.

Schilling (6-2) allowed five runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings. He also yielded three homers in his previous start, a loss to the New York Yankees, but this time the Red Sox were able to mount enough offense to overcome the blows.

“It’s a win. It’s a win because our bullpen is what it is and offensively we do what we have to do,” Schilling said. “I had about zero input in this game, other than getting the first 17 outs.”

The Red Sox currently 23-14 are in a very tough division, in which they don’t have the luxury to play bad baseball and still get the victories. They need to focus and start playing better, this team has a great offense and of course a wonderful bullpen that give them an equilibrium that most teams don’t have. If they can find a rhythm they will be valid contenders for the World Series.

This is a big old rivalry in baseball in which you can’t pass the opportunity to bet on and spice up this game even more.

Lineup
1. Kevin Youkilis, 1st B. 2. Mark Loretta, 2nd B. 3. David Ortiz, DH. 4. Manny Ramirez, LF. 5. Mike Lowell, 3rd B. 6. Wily Mo Pena, CF. 7.Trot Nixon, RF. 8.Doug Mirabelli, C. 9.Alex Gonzalez, SS.

Bluffing is used to deceive other player’s into thinking you have a better hand when you really don’t. In order to make the bluff work, you need the other players to think you actually have a better hand by betting or raising.

Bluffing should be done at the right time and done sparingly. Remember, everyone is looking for their own opportunity to bluff. Here are some reason why you shouldn’t bluff.
When Not to Bluff

Player’s Expect You to Bluff: You were caught bluffing and now labeled as apoor bluffer. Don’t stick you hand in the cookie jar until you rebuild your reputation as an honest player, then try to bluff later.

Against Too Many Players: The chances are that someone has a made hand and they’ll stick with it.

Against Bad Players: Bad players have no idea what’s going on. They’ll call you regardless, because they aren’t concerned with what you have. They want to improve their own hand, so they’ll call just about anything.

You lost a Series of Hands: Players will expect you to make some crazy moves to make your money back (playing on tilt). They’ll be ready to call you down.

Again, bluffing should be used sparingly. Here are some scenarios where a typical bluff should be taken into consideration:

The RIGHT Time to Bluff

Against Weak or Tight Players: Once you have a general idea of how your opponents play, your biggest targets would be pounding the weak and tight players who tend to fold easily. However, bluffing too early won’t make them budge; they may not believe you have a better hand or maybe holding a strong hand of their own. (Refer to the table image section)

Few Players in the Pot: It’s easier to trick a few individuals (1-3) rather than a small group. Fewer hand out there, the chances of someone making a reasonable hand are slim.

Everyone has checked and you’re last to act: Betting will force a few players out of the pot, but not all (also known as squeezing). It’s pretty common to see someone bluff and bet on the button, so most of the time players will call because they won’t believe you have the better hand. It’s also a good strategy to see where you stand.

You Bet Preflop and Missed: You’re holding an A Q and bet preflop, and the flop comes down K -8 -5 . Other player’s may still think your hand is strong because of your bet preflop. So a bet on the flop would make your opponents thinking you’ve hit nicely on the flop.

Player’s Fear You: If you won a hand through a good play, and see your opponent a bit aggravated or show respect by commenting on your hand, then trick them in the future by running the same play that beat them. They will more likely fold to your bluff if you play it right.

Semi-Bluffing

A semi-bluff is a partial bluff with some truth in that play. With a semi bluff, you can either win by them folding right then, by improving to the best hand, or by catching a scare card and betting out on the following round. You should have general knowledge of calculating odds before attempting a semi-bluff. Here are a few examples of when to semi-bluff.

Example 1: You’re holding 8 8 in the pocket, someone raises preflop and you call. The flop is a rainbow of 3 – -9 . It’s likely your opponent has overcards (AK, KQ, A10). You don’t want your opponent to catch any of his cards on the turn of river so bet to get the pot then and there.

Example 2: You are holding a J 10 and the flop comes down as Q -9 -5 . At this point you have an open-ended straight draw and a flush draw. You should be concerned with someone having the king or ace of hearts. So betting at the pot might make them fold or give you an idea of where you stand.

In order to win blackjack, players must get cards that have a total of 21 or closer to it. If the player gets a card over 21, they will end up losing the game.

Today, more and more people are getting hooked on playing blackjack. In fact, it is considered to be one of the most prevalent and well-liked games in the casino. This is because it is relatively easy to play the game and with the correct strategy, a player can lessen the dealer’s edge and at the same time get an advantage in winning the game.

In winning a game in blackjack, there is only one concept that players must bear in mind. They should always remember to utilize the right strategy.

In order to win a blackjack game, the player must know the basic strategies. This is because these strategies are considered as the vital element in winning blackjack. The player’s capability to use a line of attack and manipulate the game is the basic skills that a player must learn in order to win.

So, for people who want to win a game in blackjack, here are some ways how to do it. These things may not guarantee the players to win the game but using them will give them a good chance.

1. Players should know when to hit or stand.

Statistics show that 3 out of the 10 people who play blackjack make hits or stands without even knowing when to do it. Most of them merely rely on their instincts. Instincts can be a pretty factor in winning the game but it is not always like that. So, it is a must that a player should know when to hit or stand just by looking at the cards already dealt and the cards of the dealer.

The idea of when to stand or hit is directly dependent on the dealer’s card.

2. Players should always assume that the dealer’s down card is 10.

This is based on the theory that if the dealer’s down card is a 10 and he gets a 6, chances are he will get the card. If he gets 7, chances are he would either be busted or the player’s probability of getting close to 21 is higher.

Winning blackjack is, indeed, dependent on the dealer’s card.

In this manner, depending on what card the dealer gets, the player can decide whether to hit or stand. The players will then have higher chances of winning.

One of the best ways of foreseeing the future is to understand the human nature. Our needs, hopes, problems and dreams are often the basis for our future making. The nature of the human being is one of the most important ingredients in a complicated gambling business. Each of the parties – a casino and a gambler, long to win money from each other. And the growing strain will determine the future of the game.

Blackjack before 1962:
Before publication of the classic book “Beat The Dealer” by Edward O. Thorp in 1962 no single player had ever suspected of such a thing as the Basic Strategy. Everyone used one’s own mixture of superstitions concerning the way in which one or the other hand had to play. Plus, some experience gained while playing at home in the kitchen. Excluding a small number of professional card-players who intuitively presupposed that their overbalance would be more if there were more bowers left in a pack, practically none won in blackjack. Naturally, casinos felt quite comfortable under such conditions. Till 1962 blackjack was not very popular, though percentagewise the profit rate was exclusively high.

The next decade: from 1962 till 1972:
After publication of the book by Thorp the situation changed radically. When the book mounted the peak of sales, became a bestseller, and the professor Thorp became an internationally famous personality, casinos were terrified that thus everyone could learn the system of Thorp and would start beating casinos winning huge amounts of money.

The results of this panic are well-known. The majority of casinos cardinally changed the blackjack rules creating even a larger overbalance in comparison with the previous set of rules. These introductions were effective a few weeks only as the majority of casinos’ clients simply refused to play a game with such bad rules. Subordinating to the law of supply and demand casinos had to quickly restore traditional rules for all. After this gamblers started immediately to play again, more than that in considerably larger quantities.

The popularity of Thorp’s book played into the hands of casinos. Blackjack started to attract crowds of people who thought they could “beat a dealer” only after they had read one book.

But the fact remained that casinos’ visitors continued to lose the same amounts of money while playing blackjack as before. Only the number of gamblers increased a hundred times. The majority of those who had read the book simply didn’t understand the way the calculation of tens given in the book worked, and those who got to the bottom didn’t take enough pains so as to master the system of calculation from A to Z. Casinos observed in surprise the incredibly increased profits.

Reedition of the book in 1966 gave a reader a simpler calculation system. Over that period of time a number of books on blackjack were published. The game gathered pace. Casinos were setting more and more tables. Blackjack was becoming the most popular game in casinos having outrun the previous leader craps.

Blackjack of the 70s:
The classic book “Playing Blackjack as a Business” by Lawrence Revere is responsible for further increase in popularity of the game in the 70s to a great extent. Revere published a shortened version of his systems at the beginning of 1969, but by 1972 already thousands of copies of the book were sold out. Revere republished an extended version of the book offering his simple and effective systems of the game which increased blackjack popularity even more.

Also the book “Winning Blackjack” by Stanley Roberts, was in the right place at the right time, in addition the author appeared in a number of radio and TV-shows. Roberts invested a considerable amount of money into advertising of his book making a splash.

Casinos were once again overcome by the fit of paranoia. They started to suspect that the systems developed with the help of research methods could considerably influence their profits. Casinos started to introduce a multi-pack blackjack instead of a one-pack blackjack to struggle against the system game.

At the beginning of the 70s a lot of scientists, mathematicians, university professors and other “intellectuals” started to write books about blackjack. Some of them developed their own cards’ calculation systems. One of the most popular and effective systems – Hi-Opt I, was developed in 1974 with the help of computer programs created by Julian Brown with participation of an anonymous postgraduate of a large Canadian university.

A lot of professional gamblers transferred from the Revere system to the Hi-Opt I system because of the relative simplicity and effectiveness of the latter one. A lot of ordinary gamblers started to use the system together with the basic strategy. These two systems evidently made the biggest impact upon casinos’ profits because of their use by professionals. Roberts’ systems were more often used by amateurs.

Kenneth Uston, teams and Great Horror:
Kenneth Uston noticed sometime at the end of 1976 that he was amazed by the way how effective the simplest systems of Hi-Opt I type could be. In Uston’s book “Big Player” the way how Uston and his companions won together more than a million of dollars playing blackjack is described. Later on his teams transferred from very complicated systems to the simplest of Hi-Opt I type. Uston was thrown out of a few big casinos of Las Vegas, and he filed lawsuit against them for a total amount of 80 million dollars.

With the arrival of Uston the whole new era of blackjack began. Casinos were once again frightened that teams could win huge amounts of money in blackjack. Nearly at once some casinos did away with a one- and two-pack blackjack transferring to 4-, 6- and 8-pack ones. For an average gambler blackjack became too difficult. Plus, casinos started to cut most cards out of play – to two packs. As has been mentioned by Roberts in one of his articles, such practice was at the very least doubtful. By the way, the fact itself of availability of cards which didn’t enter the game caused new kinds of crooked gambling connected with withdrawal and addition of cards.

Casinos up to now change the number of packs and the extent of cutting, and compare levels of profits, thus balancing rules. In any case, rules are extremely difficult for gamblers in the USA, especially beginners.

The nightmare continues:
The funniest thing is that gamblers’ thoughts are not rigid. Uston’s teams were followed by Keith Taft with his pocket computer for blackjack which played better than any profs in the world. The court of Nevada State broke the record of the USA on the quickness of adoption of statute on use of computers in casinos. Up to five years with confiscation in the current situation, though Taft and his advocates were sure of the unconstitutionality of that law.

Forbade the computer? There appeared Tommy Hyland and his most complicated systems of tracking. A new headache for casinos… To worsen the cutting, introduce more packs and make the procedure of riffle even longer. To invent shuffle-machines!

Stanford Wong was the first to outwit these shuffle-machines. The most important thing was to know how they worked. Poor casinos didn’t know what to do. These machines cost rather a lot.

Perhaps new varieties would help? Spanish 21, Super-fan 21, 6:5 blackjack, “Open” blackjack, Blackjack-switch, Pontoon… With every introduction there was one problem: either no one played it at all or profs immediately found the way to beat it. Tournaments? Old Wong created teams especially for tournament struggle. Every new rule was calculated and intensively looked into a week in advance. The development of the Internet caused quick information distribution.

Further on the whole pleiad of gamblers of the contemporary generation came on stage. Wong, Sneider, Anderson, Dogerty, Shlesinger and heaps of people who were occupied with theory and practical aspects of the game. Mathematical models of the game were worked out. Texts on Blackjack were published in scientific reviews.

Finally, up to the present moment a small number of professionals still win in blackjack. And will win in the future. Some profs transfer to more complicated systems which are plentiful (let’s say, Hi-Opt II was published as far back as 1976). New methods and techniques are being developed.

There is no doubt that it will get still more and more difficult to win in blackjack. However, there difficulties only make gambling wits work harder and harder. Right away new game systems are being worked out in many heads and at many computers of the world.

It is important to understand that gamblers always have a hope. They can change games. They can finally read a textbook on the theory of probability. They can read the same books themselves. They can spend even more money on the newest technologies. However, I assure You, there will always be a way to beat them.